My Message To Everyone Upset About The Female Thor: Relax, It’s Just A Story

When you see headlines like the one on Today.com — “Female Thor’s Debut Stirs Outrage” — it really drives home the divide there is sometimes between comics fans and the non-comic-reading public. It’s easy to understand why longtime fans of Thor might not be crazy about a mysterious woman becoming the new God of Thunder (my own dad is one). I’ve got my own qualms about the logistics of it all, as I think it’s pretty silly that Odin doesn’t know the identity of the new person linked to Thor’s hammer since he enchanted the darn thing.

But outrage? That’s a bit harsh.

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If you find your blood pressure increasing because of the impending change coming this Wednesday in Thor #1, here’s the thing to remember: it’s just a story, and this too shall pass. Heck, we’ve already seen in the future that Thor Odinson, as we’re going to have to call him for the time being, will get Mjolnir back eventually. It’s only a matter of when, and not if, the Thor we all know and love returns.

In the meantime, the idea that this is a devious move on the part of Marvel to make some kind of political statement seems ridiculous to me. Marvel is in the business of selling comics and getting them to spark other ways to make money — period. If there was anything calculated about this idea, it’s that it was intended to boost Thor from a middling character in terms of monthly sales to one that is poised to top the charts from the curiosity factor alone. Think that isn’t going to happen? I know I’m pulling the new series at my LCS, and I’ve never done that for a Thor series before.

I think Gerry Gladston, co-owner of New York’s awesome Midtown Comics, said it best in that Today piece:

"I believe that the only agenda Marvel has is to excite their fans and to sell more comics. The charge of political correctness run amok sounds like pure fantasy on the part of commentators."

So my advice for anyone truly upset about this storyline is just to relax. Let Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman tell their tale, and if you don’t like it, don’t buy it. This is comics, and anything you don’t like will change again in due time.

Oh, and just so I don’t have to type this post all over again next month, you can simply take out all the Thor references and replace them with Captain America when Sam Wilson takes over in November, as my message will be exactly the same.